


Fallout

by helsinkibaby



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Het, Rare Pair, Rhodeyfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark was presumed dead for three years. When he returns, he finds things have changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fallout

**Author's Note:**

> For RhodeyBingo square D3 "presumed dead"

"So, were you ever going to tell me?"

Tony's voice was tight, clipped, and Rhodey knew him well enough to know that he was hiding a world of hurt in those few words. He wasn't even looking at Rhodey, was picking pieces of metal up from his workbench, studying them without really seeing them and putting them down. He couldn't  stay still for more than a few seconds at a time and Rhodey was suddenly really, really glad he told Pepper to go home, that he'd deal with this. 

She'd already cried enough tears over the fear of how this might go down. She didn't  need to know that the reality was worse than they'd ever imagined. 

"Yes, Tony." He kept his voice calm, low. "We were going to tell you." 

"When?" Now there was anger in his voice and a cell phone in his hand. "Before or after I had to read in a fucking _People_ magazine article all about your love story?" 

Usually whenever that article was mentioned, Rhodey rolled his eyes and scoffed at the amount of sheer liberties the magazine had taken with what scant facts were in the public domain, to say nothing of the purple prose they'd employed to describe said liberties. He didn't do that today, though, nor did he remind Tony that he was only hours back on US soil, sensing that to do so would be something akin to throwing paraffin on a flame. "I'm sorry you found out like that." Still with the calm voice, a hand held up, palm out, for extra emphasis. "We didn't mean for that to happen. We didn't plan this... any of this." 

Tony snorted. "You didn't plan it, you didn't plan it, oh that's great." Another piece of metal picked up, this one skimmed across the surface of the workbench like a smooth stone across water. "What, you just tripped and your dick ended up stuck in my assistant?" 

At that, Rhodey saw red, flames of fire dancing across his vision and it was with supreme difficulty that he stopped himself from launching across the room, fists at the ready. As it was, the noise that reverberated around the room when his hand met the workbench seemed to bring Tony back to his senses. He blinked, looking surprised.  "Wow, that was too far." 

"Tony, man, I love you like a brother," Rhodey told him through clenched teeth. "And there is no-one, no-one, happier than me that you're alive and well. But make no mistake about it." He stepped forward, didn't take his eyes off Tony's, didn't blink. "You ever... ever... talk about my wife like that again? I'll drop you so fast you won't even know about it." 

Tony looked down, tapped his fingers against the work bench, looking as chastened as Rhodey had ever seen him look. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." He swallowed. "She's just... she's my Pepper. And you're my Rhodey." 

And Tony Stark didn't do well with sharing his toys, Rhodey knew that all too well. "We never meant for it to happen, Tony," he told him, and it happened to be the truth. "But you were missing... you were presumed dead for three years... Everyone else, apart from the two of us, thought you'd never come home." And even then, sometimes, it had been hard to keep believing, but he wasn't going to tell Tony that. "Somewhere between co-ordinating the searches, keeping the searches going, propping each other up when we were ready to give up..." He shook his head, remembering all the times they'd spent together, first as friends, then that first kiss, that first night, the agonising over whether they should be doing this at all, moving on with their lives, let alone together. "We fell in love." 

"I know. I read all about it." Tony held up his cell phone, showed the screen to Rhodey. It was open to an Internet browser, to that damn article, a photograph of him and Pepper on their wedding day - the only one they released to the media - blown up to fit the whole screen. Rhodey didn't think much of the way he looked but Pepper had been nothing less than ravishing and he'd smiled every time he'd seen her that day. He smiled again now, almost missed Tony's next words. "You kept a seat at the top table for me." He laid the phone face down on the bench, tapped it twice with his index finger. "That was sweet..." He swallowed. "I wish I'd been there." 

Rhodey exhaled slowly, knowing that, for the moment at least, the worst of the storm was over. "Me too, man. Me too." 

Their eyes met again then and Tony turned away. "You should go. I have stuff to do here... and you don't want to keep the little woman waiting." 

Rhodey knew a dismissal when he heard one and, just this once, he didn't fight it. 

"Rhodey?" He was at the door when Tony's voice stopped him. "Congratulations." 

Tony wasn't looking at him, but Rhodey nodded anyway. "Thank you." 

He went straight home, not really surprised when he saw the condo in darkness. A quick check of the living room proved fruitless and he sighed as he pulled his tie off, heading for the bedroom.  As he expected, Pepper was there, lying on the bed on her side. She didn't move when he came in and that was all he needed to tell him that she wasn't asleep, no matter how it might have looked - Pepper was a notoriously light sleeper and no matter how quiet he tried to be when he came in, he'd never once succeeded in not waking her. Crossing to the bed, he toed off his shoes before lying down behind her, pressing his chest against her back, sliding his arm across her waist and tangling his fingers in the soft material of one of his old t-shirts. He let their legs tangle together, his regulation pants sliding over her cotton leggings, her whole ensemble the very definition of comfort clothes. 

"Hey." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder through the material. "You ok?" 

It was a ridiculous question and he knew it. Her laugh, however, was far from humorous, was instead full of tears. "No." Her voice was thick, clogged and when he moved his head so he could look down at her face, the blotchy red patches on her skin and her swollen eyes made him wince. "Is he still angry?" 

There was no point lying to her. "A little, I think. Hurt. Mostly hurt." Pepper closed her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly. "He did say congratulations though." 

The tiniest sob escaped her. "I never wanted..." she began but then her voice trailed off and she glanced around at him, a frown on her face. 

Luckily, he knew just what she meant. 

"I never wanted to hurt him either," he told her. "And three years ago, before everything? I would have told you there was more chance of me flying into space than you and me ending up together." He moved one hand up to cup her cheek and she shifted slightly so that was lying at an angle, looking up at him. "But Pepper... as much as I regret what he went through the last three years, as much as I wish it had never happened... I don't regret this. I don't regret us." Fresh tears rolled down her face and he brushed them away with the back of his hand. "And I don't think you do either." 

Her face crumpled as she nodded and she broke into noisy sobs. Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, waiting for her tears to subside, for her body to stop shaking. When it did, it was a long time before she lifted her head, longer again before she spoke. "I love Tony," she told him, and it was nothing he hadn't already know, had known long before Tony disappeared. He'd only partly told her the truth a little while ago - he'd often imagined the two of them standing in front of an altar somewhere, someday. The only difference between his predictions and reality had been that he'd always assumed that while she'd be the bride, he'd be best man to Tony's groom. " I will always love him. But I'm in love with you." She sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. "I just hate that us being happy hurts him."

Rhodey felt the same way,  the same conflicting emotions, so all he could do was pull her closer, run his fingers through her hair. "It's going to be ok," he whispered and he wanted nothing more than to believe that he was right. 

But lying there, with Pepper in his arms, it was easy to believe that it would be. 


End file.
